A lot has been happening at Dryer Road park on the trails. Even before the ground had thawed, we were in there designing and building awesome new trails. Volunteers have put in 334 hours, so far. The projects completed this spring include:

Big Easy— a totally new trail that was created to be a less technical way up and down, extending from Kaleidoscope to the top of A-train. This offers access to novices, but is being enjoyed by all levels of riders.

Eye of the Snake— a reroute of the lower section adds more length and interest, but also bypasses an eroded area.

Owl’s Maze— we had to reroute the trail around a section that was badly eroded. We made a fairly technical turn that adds interest and challenge.

More signs— Mary Lee’s famous hand-painted letters and symbols on hickory are strategically placed to keep riders oriented

Updated trail map— thanks to Scott Page for a beautiful and extremely helpful new rendition of the trail map of the entire trail system. It incorporates all the additions and changes we have made in the years since the previous map was made. Available as letter-size paper maps at the kiosk and electronically via link to GROC’s site((place link here)). Of note, his app allows him to easily update it with any more changes as we keep improving our trail system.

Current projects include a major reroute of Humpty Dumpty, which has eroded badly in the fall line sections. We have had two work parties already on it and more are being scheduled. By the time this article appears, we should have done further work on upper Juicy Bacon.

So, many thanks to all our hard-working volunteers, and special thanks to Brian Emelson, Victor Parks and Recreation Director, and Jeff Rader, who is head of operations and maintenance for the parks, for their continuing strong support. We urge all folks who use the trails to sign up for Trail Crew Meetup, so that they can keep informed as to the scheduling of all trail work parties. Please, join us. The trails need constant care.

Ithaca GreenTrails supports the preservation, rehabilitation and restoration of area biking and hiking trails. Proceeds from GreenTrails events, promotions and sponsorships are shared with not-for-profit organizations to help improve outdoor recreational trails for all of us to enjoy.

Ithaca Beer Co.'s Spring 2015 GreenTrails Promotion is a partnership with GROC & Cycle-CNY. A portion of the proceeds from this promotion will go to GROC & Cycle-CNY to help their bike trail building efforts in the Finger Lakes.

GROC owns a fleet of push bikes from Kazam that we bring to events and encourage kids to jump on and start to learn how to ride a bikes. These push bikes are the best way to teach your child to ride. The can start very young and these bikes teach balance from day 1. Training wheels on bikes actually work against the natural balance skills needed for riding a bike.

Every child I have seen use these bike go from the push bike to peddling a bike with no learning curve, they just jump on and start peddling.

GROC tries to promote biking in any way we can so we have leant the fleet of bikes and helmets to the Child Care Center at Genesee Community College Association in Batavia, New York. Staci L. Williams the director has been thrilled to have such a great activity for the kids and as you can see the gym makes an excellent place to rip it up.

GROC recently got a very generous donation from a local trail running group TrailsROC.

They promote trail running and are big advocates of the wonderful trails in our area. They also understand that trails need love and care and recognize the efforts of all the groups that help build and maintain those trails.http://www.trailsroc.org

Eric Eagan one of the founders of TrailsROC had reached out to GROC when they were running race at Dryer Road Park. I asked Eric why they donated money to GROC

"We host a race (Ready Set Glow) at Dryer Road park and we understand that park is maintained and built by GROC and all of our” races have a beneficiary and it made sense to give to the organization that built a park that supports one of our races.

There should be room for runners and riders on our trails and if we build them properly - Which GROC has shown it can do, we should be able to share.

So in essence, we have so much in common we should be advocating and working together because our goals and vision seem to line up."

I think Eric stated it perfectly “ we have so much in common we should be advocating and working together because our goals and vision seem to line up”

GROC has been the champion for opening local trails to mountain biking but our main mission is to see more inclusive trail policies for all user groups. Shared-use trails are not only the right thing to do but it is critical to have all the help and volunteers our trails can get to keep them in great shape for everyone. We all know trails are built primary with volunteers from many different trail organizations and without them the trails will deteriorate.

So thank you to TrailsROC for supporting like minded groups and volunteering on the trails !